Looking upon the loud Boies and Bland supporters, Bryan commented, "These people don't know it, but they will be cheering for me just this way tomorrow night. Theodore Roosevelt announced that he would not seek a subsequent term in office. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. [36] Historian James Barnes wrote of Bryan's preparations: The Nebraskan merely understood the political situation better than most of those who might have been his rivals, and he took advantage in a legitimate and thoroughly honorable manner of the existing conditions. In anticipation of a presidential campaign, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. [18], In 1893, bimetallism had been just one of many proposals by Populists and others. [80] Bryan and Sewall gained their nominations without the ballots of the gold men, most of whom refused to vote. [48], As the committees met, the convention proceeded, though in considerable confusion. At the center of these efforts was a campaign to end the teaching of evolution in public schools. Bryan was quoting from an 1878 speech by Cleveland's Treasury Secretary, Hill remained neutral in the campaign, despite urgings to go over to the Gold Democrats, seeking to preserve his control of the state Democratic party, and also hoping (in vain) to secure his own re-election by the legislature. According to Stanley Jones, The period of this tour, in the return from New York to Lincoln, was the high point of the Bryan campaign. The Democrats lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1894 midterm elections, with a number of southern states, usually solid for the Democrats, electing Republican or Populist congressmen. John Nimick. Populist leaders correctly believed the Republicans unlikely to nominate a silver man. Nevertheless, Gold Democrats began plans to hold their own convention, which took place in September. Bryan's sterling record on the issue left the Populists with a stark choice: They could endorse Bryan, and risk losing their separate identity as a party, or nominate another candidate, thus dividing the pro-silver vote to McKinley's benefit. The first report from the Credentials Committee, on the afternoon of July 8, recommended the seating of Bryan's delegation. [49] Bryan had been widely supported as a candidate for permanent chairman by the silver men, but some western delegates on the Committee on Permanent Organization objected, stating that they wanted the chance to support Bryan for the nomination (the permanent chairman was customarily ruled out as a candidate). Governor Altgeld had held Illinois, which was subject to the "unit rule" whereby the entirety of a state's vote was cast as a majority of that state's delegation directed. McKinley won with 7.1 million votes to Bryan's 6.5 million, 51% to 47%. Bland maintained his lead on the second and third ballots, but on the fourth, with the convention in a huge uproar, Bryan took the lead. But McKinleys victory was fueled by a massive influx of campaign cash from Wall Street bankers and other wealthy business interests, all determined to crush Bryans radical brand of populism. A large banner outside the Clifton House proclaimed the presence of Nebraska's delegation headquarters, but did not mention Bryan's campaign, which was run from Nebraska's rooms. In the speech, Bryan, who was from . They hoped the Democrats either would not endorse silver in their platform or if they did, that the Democratic candidate would be someone who could be painted as weak on silver. To this day, countless theater festivals around the world honor his work, students read more. "[109], Bryan set the formal acceptance of his nomination for August 12 at New York's Madison Square Garden; he left Lincoln five days earlier by rail, and spoke 38times along the way, sometimes from the trackside in his nightgown. [103] Populist leader Henry Demarest Lloyd described silver as the "cow-bird" of the Populist Party, which had pushed aside all other issues. [31] Most state conventions did not bind, or "instruct", their delegates to vote for a specific candidate for the nomination; this course was strongly supported by Bryan. [87] Large numbers of traditionally Democratic newspapers refused to support Bryan, including the New York World, whose circulation of 800,000 was the nation's largest, and major dailies in cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, and Brooklyn. His 'Cross of Gold' speech, given to conclude the debate on the party platform, immediately transformed him into a favorite for the nomination, and he won it the next day. His program of prosperity through free silver struck an emotional chord with the American people in a way that McKinley's protective tariff did not. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. The campaign, as it proved, was badly organized: This was Jones' first national campaign, and the party structure in many states was either only newly in the control of silver forces, or in gold states wanted no part of the national ticket. Cross of Gold Speech and Election of 1896, Anti-Evolution Crusade, Scopes Trial and Death, Department of State: Office of the Historian. [140] The Democratic Party preserved control in the eastern cities through machine politics and the continued loyalty of the Irish-American voter; Bryan's loss over the silver issue of many German-American voters, previously solidly Democratic, helped ensure his defeat in the Midwest. Taken prisoner after his plane was shot down, he suffered five and a half years of torture and confinement before his release in 1973. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Morgan noted, "full organization, [Republican] party harmony, a campaign of education with the printed and spoken word would more than counteract" Bryan's speechmaking. He supported many Populist policies. For a more detailed treatment of the background to the currency question, see, For further information on the procedures of American political conventions, see, William Jennings Bryan 1896 presidential campaign, Attacks and Gold Democrats; the final days. He ran for president a second time in 1900 and a third time in 1908, each time losing. The jury predictably found Scopes guilty, but Bryans performance in the trial, and his thrashing in the national press, marked a less than stellar end to his long career as a public figure. The electoral vote was not as close: 271 for McKinley to 176 for Bryan. Bryan went to the Democratic convention in Chicago as an undeclared candidate, whom the press had given only a small chance of becoming the Democratic nominee. [12] Advocates believed these proposals would lead to prosperity, while opponents warned that varying from the gold standard (which the United States had, effectively, used since 1873) would cause problems in international trade. [138] Palmer received less than 1% of the vote, but his vote total in Kentucky was greater than McKinley's margin of victory there. This popular treatment of the currency issue was highly influential. [129] Republican newspapers and spokesmen claimed that Bryan's campaign was expensively financed by the silver interests. The minority report attracted the opposite reaction.[54]. After Bryan helped rally support behind Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, Wilson chose the now-elder Democratic statesman as his secretary of state. Born in 1860, Bryan grew up in rural Illinois and in 1887 moved to Nebraska, where he practiced law and entered politics. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Bryan's biographer, Paolo Coletta, suggests that Bryan may have played a part in inciting the silver men's departure; he was in close contact with Silver Republicans such as Teller and South Dakota Senator Richard Pettigrew. [35] Bryan was deeply moved when, after the adoption of the platform, Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller led a walkout of silver-supporting Republicans. He argued that children being taught the survival of the fittest would in time stop caring about the poor and otherwise needier members of the population. [43] He explained to Champ Clark, the future Speaker of the House, that Bland and others from southern states would fall because of prejudice towards the old Confederacy, that Boies could not be nominated because he was too little-known, and all others would fail due to lack of supportleaving only himself.[44]. [117] McKinley's chosen strategy was a front porch campaign; he would remain at home, giving carefully scripted speeches to visiting delegations, much to the gratification of Canton's hot dog vendors and souvenir salesmen, who expanded facilities to meet the demand. A devout Protestant, his populist rhetoric and policies earned him the nickname the Great Commoner. In his later years, Bryan campaigned against the teaching of evolution in public schools, culminating with his leading role in the Scopes Trial. [30] As state conventions met to nominate delegates to the July national convention, for the most part, they supported silver, and sent silver men to Chicago. [93] When Bryan was nominated on a silver platform, the Republicans were briefly gratified, believing that Bryan's selection would result in an easy victory for McKinley. [65], Bryan concluded the address, seizing a place in American history:[66], Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. [14] After his election to Congress, Bryan studied the currency question carefully, and came to believe in free silver; he also saw its political potential. The nation was regionally split, with the industrial East and Midwest for McKinley, and with Bryan carrying the Solid South and the silver strongholds of the Rocky Mountain states. [39] When Senator Teller walked out of the Republican convention in protest over the currency plank, he immediately became another possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. He was young, had a respectable but not burdensome record, came from the West, and understood the arts of conciliation. This advocacy brought him contributions from silver mine owners in his successful re-election bid in 1892. "[52], On the morning of July 9, 1896, thousands of people waited outside the Coliseum, hoping to hear the platform debate. He made 27speeches, including seven in Omaha, the last concluding a few minutes before midnight. The increasing economic struggles of poor farmers during the 1870s and 1880s led to the Populist movement. "[144] Williams believes that Bryan did better than any other Democrat would have, and comments, "The nominee of a divided and discredited party, he had come remarkably close to winning. The left-wing Populist Party (which had hoped to nominate the only silver-supporting candidate) endorsed Bryan for president, but found Sewall unacceptable, substituting Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. [22][23] In the 17months between his departure from Congress and the Democratic National Convention in July 1896, Bryan travelled widely through the South and West, speaking on silver. He was admitted to the Illinois bar and began practicing law in Jacksonville, marrying Mary Elizabeth Baird in 1884; the couple went on to have three children. "[79] He left the choice of a running mate to the convention; delegates selected Maine shipbuilder Arthur Sewall. Men and women threw their hats into the air, not caring where they might come down. William Jennings Bryan was born in rural Salem, Illinois, in 1860. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. Bryan served as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915, resigning as Wilson moved the nation closer to intervention in World War I. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley. [108] According to Stanley Jones in his study of the 1896 campaign, "Bryan expected that he alone, carrying to the people the message of free silver, would win the election for his party. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan, winning 292 electoral votes to Bryan's 155. The President's uncompromising stand for gold alienated many in his own party (most southern and western Democrats were pro-silver). Writers such as Edgar Lee Masters, Hamlin Garland and his fellow Nebraskan, Willa Cather, like Bryan came from the prairies; they wrote of their admiration for him and his first battle. If the USA had been on a bimetallic standard between 1875 and 1890, the economy could have expanded far more than it did, restricted as it was in its monetary straight jacket. United States presidential election of 1896, American presidential election held on November 3, 1896, in which Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat - Populist William Jennings Bryan. According to his biographer Michael Kazin, "Bryan felt he was serving his part in a grander conflict that began with Christ and showed no sign of approaching its end. "[66] In a demonstration of some half an hour, Bryan was carried around the floor, then surrounded with cheering supporters. Set off by the collapse of the powerful Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, the Panic of 1893 plunged the nation into a deep economic depression. Bryan Club" and "Keep Your Eye on Nebraska. Book Description Mr. Bryan's unfinished memoirs, which close with an account of the Baltimore convention of 1912, make up less than half the . When both Hill and Bryan (who was selected as the other pro-silver speaker) objected to such a long closing address, Tillman settled for 50minutes and for opening the debate rather than closing it; Bryan was given 25minutes to close. Those that served principally as agricultural centers or had been founded along the railroad favored Bryan. Bryan arrived during the delay; he was greeted with a musical tribute from one of the convention bands,[a] which then returned to playing a medley of Irish melodies. [128] For the most part, Bryan ignored the attacks, and made light of them in his account of the 1896 campaign. "[142] By the end of 1896, Bryan had published his account of the campaign, The First Battle. [96][97] According to Stanley Jones, "the Democratic endorsement of silver and Bryan at Chicago precipitated the disintegration" of the Populist Party;[98] it was never again a force in national politics after 1896. [33] Bryan spoke at her funeral, quoting lines from Second Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. The biggest announcement in the run-up to the 1908 presidential election came in 1904 when, on the evening of his election, Pres. Its leaders have used rhetoric that stirs up anger, floated conspiracy theories, pushed the distrust of read more, William McKinley served in the U.S. Congress and as governor of Ohio before running for the presidency in 1896. Bryan". The economic Panic of 1893 had left the nation in a deep recession, which still persisted in early 1896. Palmer proved an able campaigner who visited most major cities in the East, and in the final week of his campaign, told listeners, "I will not count it any great fault if next Tuesday you decide to cast your ballots for William McKinley. The presidential election in 1896, a contest between the Republican candidate, William McKinley (1843-1901), and the Democrat candidate, William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), was contested over McKinley's pledge to maintain the gold standard for the nation's currency, in contrast to Bryan's promise to increase the supply of money by expanding the . They quickly endorsed Bryan and Sewall, urging all silver forces to unite behind that ticket. In 1896 it was kept as a forum, and by day and night men and womenmet there to talk about the Crime of '73, the fallacies of the gold standard, bimetallism and international consent, the evils of the tariff, the moneybags of Mark Hanna, the front porch campaign of McKinley. In 1904, Taft took on the role of secretary of war in the administration read more, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) launched his career by taking charge of his fathers struggling newspaper the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. [53] Once White started the proceedings, he turned over the gavel to Senator Jones, who read the proposed platform to great applause from silver delegates, and hissing from gold men. The Scopes monkey trial in Dayton, Tennessee, played out under the national spotlight, with journalists, religious leaders and onlookers crowding the courtroom. McKinley was supported by middle-class and wealthy voters, urban laborers, and prosperous farmers; this coalition would keep the Republicans mostly in power until the 1930s. Wherever his train went people, who had travelled from nearby farms and villages, waved and shouted encouragement. He had accepted the nominal editorship of the Omaha World-Herald in August 1894. These Truths: A History of the United States. Bryan campaigned heavily on a platform of free silver in 1896, and continued that trend into the election of 1900. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The paper editorialized on the same page that even if the Democratic candidate was not insane, he was at least "of unsound mind". [119] Among the foremost supporters of Bryan was publisher William Randolph Hearst who both contributed to Bryan's campaign and slanted his newspapers' coverage in his favor. The 1896 campaign, which took place during an economic depression known as the Panic of 1893, was a realigning election that ended the old Third Party System and began the Fourth Party System. South Carolina Senator Benjamin Tillman, a silver supporter, wanted an hour to address the convention, and to close the debate. The majority felt exposed, crestfallen, and humiliated.[56]. (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018), William Jennings Bryan, the Great Commoner. Constitutional Rights Foundation, Spring 2010 (Volume 25, No. Bryan was present when it was announced that his delegation would not be initially seated; reports state he acted "somewhat surprised" at the outcome. Much of the blizzard of paper the Republican campaign was able to pay for concentrated on this area/ By September, this had its effect as silver sentiment began to fade. When early-voting Maine and Vermont went strongly Republican in September, this meant that McKinley would most likely win the Northeast. By early October, the DNC, at the urging of Populist officials who felt Bryan was being worn out, procured the services of North Carolina journalist Josephus Daniels to make travel arrangements, and also obtained a private railroad car, The Idlera name Bryan thought somewhat inappropriate due to the strenuous nature of the tour. I will add for the encouragement of those who still believe that money is not necessary to secure a Presidential nomination that my entire expenses while in attendance upon the convention were less than $100. Through 1895 and early 1896, Bryan sought to make himself as widely known as an advocate for silver as possible. [47] Since the DNC action meant Bryan would not have a seat at the start of proceedings, he could not be the temporary chairman (who would deliver the keynote address); the Nebraskan began looking for other opportunities to make a speech at the convention. The billionaire businessman ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 read more, John McCain first entered the public spotlight as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. Bryan always regarded that argument as the speech's most powerful part, despite the fame its conclusion would gain. President Cleveland, stunned by the convention's repudiation of him and his policies, decided against open support for a bolt from the party, either by endorsing McKinley or by publicly backing a rival Democratic ticket. Bryan was well rested. why did william jennings bryan lose the election of 1896? "[57] The Nebraska delegation waved red handkerchiefs as Bryan progressed to the podium;[56] he wore an alpaca sack suit more typical of Lincoln and the West than of Chicago. He campaigned relentlessly, traveling around the country and giving hundreds of speeches to millions of people, while his Republican opponent, Ohio Governor William McKinley, stayed home and gave speeches from his porch. On July 26, 1925, five days after the verdict was issued, Bryan died in his sleep after suffering a stroke. Poor Grover Cleveland a hard-money, laissez-faire Democrat was blamed for the panic of 1893, and many leading Cleveland Democrats lost their gubernatorial and senatorial posts in the 1894 elections. Now among the most famous politicians in the country, Bryan would run twice more for president, losing again to McKinley in 1900 and to William Howard Taft in 1908. Many Republican leaders had gone on vacation for the summer, believing that the fight, on their terms, would take place in the fall. Lose identity, simplify their cause to one policy (free coinage of silver), sacrifice rest of platform Why did Populists endorse Bryan? Historian H. Wayne Morgan described Bryan: Robert La Follette remembered Bryan as "a tall, slender, handsome fellow who looked like a young divine". Populism and the Election of 1896. "[19] A Minnesota correspondent wrote in Outlook magazine: "high school boys are about equally divided between silver and baseball, with a decided leaning toward the former". Advocates of free silver (or bimetallism) wanted the government to accept all silver bullion presented to it and to return it, struck into coin, at the historic value ratio between gold and silver of 16 to 1. He was followed by Senator William Vilas of Wisconsin and former Massachusetts Governor William D. Russell. Everybody seemed to go mad at once. Hayes and Harrison both won in the electoral college but lost the popular vote, for example. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated. Great Commoner Bryan dies in sleep, apoplexy given as cause of death. UPI Archives, July 27, 1925. https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/william-jennings-bryan. Why was the 1896 election devastating for Populist movement? [88][89] Newspapers that supported other parties in western silver states, such as the Populist Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, and Utah's Republican The Salt Lake Tribune, quickly endorsed Bryan. Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 17891996". The answer was simple, Bryan told Abbothe had prepared a speech that would stampede the convention. The galleries were quickly packed, but the delegates, slowed by fatigue from the first two days and the long journey from the downtown hotels, were slower to arrive. [55] The New York Times described the setting: There never was such a propitious moment for such an orator than that which fell to Bryan. A streak of the moralist preacher raised his political chances among a people attuned to the biblical phrase and Shakespearan [sic] stance. Rumors that Europeans were about to redeem a large sum for gold caused desperate selling on the stock market, the start of the Panic of 1893. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party. William Jennings Bryan. "[110][111][112] August 12 was an extremely hot day in New York, especially for the crowd jammed into the Garden; when Missouri Governor William J. Bryan quipped, "I seem to have plenty of friends now, but I remember well when they were very few. The New York World reported, "The floor of the convention seemed to heave up. It began as a simple courtesy, with a telegram that William Jennings Bryan sent. When he spoke of himself as the nominee, some reacted as [journalist] Willis J. Abbot did and doubted his mental capacity. Despite his electoral losses, Bryan continued to exert considerable influence through his fervently religious speeches as well as a weekly magazine, the Commoner. The shortness of the speech did not dismay the crowds, who knew his arguments well: they were there to see and hear William Jennings Bryanone listener told him that he had read every one of his speeches, and had ridden 50 miles (80km) to hear him, "And, by gum, if I wasn't a Republican, I'd vote for you. National Archives and Records Administration. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. Bryan remained at his hotel, sending word to his fellow Nebraskans, "There must be no pledging, no promising, on any subject with anybody. As a longtime champion of protective tariffs, the Republican McKinley ran on a platform of promoting American prosperity and won a landslide victory over Democrat read more, New York City real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump (1946- ) served as Americas 45th president from January 2017-January 2021. [37], In the run up to the Democratic National Convention, set to begin at the Chicago Coliseum on July 7, 1896, no candidate was seen as an overwhelming favorite for the presidential nomination. As the presidential election year of 1896 began, things were looking rosy for the Republicans. Others dubbed Bryan a "Popocrat". After running unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1894, Bryan returned to Nebraska and became editor of the Omaha World-Herald. Abandoned by many gold-supporting party leaders and newspapers after the Chicago convention, Bryan undertook an extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people. Biographies of the Secretaries of State: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925). William Jennings Bryan, The First Battle: A Story of the Campaign of 1896[78], At the Clifton House, Bryan's rooms were overwhelmed with those wishing to congratulate him, despite the efforts of police to keep the crowds at bay. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. See, In New England, Cleveland had won Connecticut in 1892 while losing the region as a whole by 53,000votes, Bryan won no states and lost New England by over 172,000 votes. [b] That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. [50], Delegates spent most of the first two days listening to various speeches by silver supporters. Attending Illinois College beginning in 1877, Bryan devoted himself to winning the school prize for speaking. Bryans pacifist stance put him increasingly at odds with the president, however, and he resigned in 1915 in protest after Wilson sent a second note to Germany demanding an end to submarine warfare after the sinking of the Lusitania, an action Bryan felt went too far toward violating American neutrality. William Jennings Bryan (D) Loading. In 1925, high school biology teacher John Scopes went on trial in Tennessee as a test of the first state law banning the teaching of evolution. The question of the currency had been a major political issue since the mid-1870s. All Rights Reserved. There was little advantage to the Democratic Party in nominating a candidate from Nebraska, a state small in population that had never voted for a Democrat. In 1887, Bryan moved to the fast-growing state of Nebraska, where he settled in Lincoln and established a thriving law practice. Farmers during the 1870s and 1880s led to the 1908 presidential election came in 1904,. Its conclusion would gain seven in Omaha, the convention as [ journalist Willis. On silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the biblical phrase and Shakespearan sic... Company, 2018 ), William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president the., bimetallism had been a major political issue since the mid-1870s though in considerable confusion candidate, Ohio. 47 % 1887 moved to Nebraska and became editor of the Secretaries of State: Jennings... 1894, Bryan grew up in rural Salem, Illinois, in 1860 the fame conclusion! 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